Monthly Archives: May 2012

Here’s food for thought . . . San Jose is labeled as the “Capitol of Silicon Valley,” has more patents filed per year than almost any city in America, and is home to iconic technology leaders like Adobe, Brocade, Cisco, eBay, LSI, Polycom and SunPower.

That’s why the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, with 375 member company CEO’s, sent out brief questionnaires to the district 10 candidates who wish to serve on the San Jose city council.

Where do they stand on job creation, pension reform, BART, affordable housing, bringing the A’s to San Jose and economic growth?

Recently, Governor Brown released the “May Revision” of California’s budget. We went from a $9 billion hole to a $16 billion hole.

Perhaps, we can finally focus on making our state competitive, once again, to keep and grow jobs that might put 2.1 million Californians back to work. That would require a climate conducive to employers – large and small – feeling welcome in the Golden State.

And that starts with a plan. An Economic Competitiveness Plan – which requires benchmarks and measurable goals. Here’s a start for what we measure:

* California’s Unemployment Rate

* Our Annual Economic Growth Rate

* The Cost of Workers Comp, Energy and Health Care

* Math, Science and Literacy Rates for K-12

* Metrics in Infrastructure improvements for transportation, housing and water

* The rate of personal income tax, sales tax and corporate tax.

Why is this important? Here is a measurement that underscores my concern. Twelve years ago, California was the 4th largest economy in the world. Today, we’re ninth.

When you’re headed in the wrong direction, turn around. We’re a great state. Let’s prove it.

Here’s Food for Thought . . . The Girl Scouts today are about a lot more than deliciously tempting Thin Mint cookies.

Recently, my seven-year-old daughter Jessica and her nine-member Scout Troop earned a merit badge for helping a low-income woman in Africa to grow her business.

Through Kiva – A Micro-lending initiative helping low-income women around the world to start and run their own businesses – this local Los Gatos girl scout troop loaned a single-mother in Africa $50 to help her with supplies for her small farm.

Kiva not only funds and empowers women entrepreneurs in impoverished countries around the globe, but it also enjoys a 98 percent repayment rate on the micro-loans that they make.

Don’t get me wrong, my little girl Jessica will still log in a lot of hours standing in front of a local grocery store selling Girl Scout Cookies, but it is also re-assuring that today’s young girls are also serving women around the world to lift themselves out of poverty, provide for their families and establish and grow their own businesses.

With an unemployment rate in California of 11 percent and 2.1 million Californians out of work, isn’t it time we expected state legislators to focus on jobs and the economy?

This June and November, we can elect state legislators who put jobs and the economy first.

At the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, we neither endorse candidates nor make contributions to candidates. We do, however, try to provide information for voters to make informed decisions.

A few weeks ago, we hosted candidates in two state senate districts who want to represent Silicon Valley in the state legislature.

Let me repeat that – they want to represent Silicon Valley . . . The innovation capital of the world.

To me, that should mean that they want to champion policies that will keep Silicon Valley the innovation capital of the world.

For the 13th Senate District, we listened to current Assemblyman Jerry Hill and former Assemblywoman Sally Lieber.

For the 15th Senate District, we listened to Assemblyman Jim Beall and former Assemblyman Joe Coto.

Judge for yourselves – read their written comments about the budget, governance and pension reform, taxes and regulations, k-12 and higher education by visiting our web site at http://svlg.org/policy-areas/government-relations/state Then, pick a candidate who will get California, and Californians, working again.